Belt buckle



B, R ZEMAN BELT BUCKLE May 2, 1939.

Filed July 7, 1938 I NV EN TOR. ,gew/fawn? /2 ,ZE/27a# Ha@ y/Da/IW A TTORNEYS.

Patented May 2, 1939 UNHTED STATES PATENT OFFICE BELT BUCKLE Bernard R. Zeman, Providence, R. I., assignor to Swank Products, Inc., a corporation of Dela- Ware Application July 7, 1938, Serial No. 217,871

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a belt buckle of the type used by men to extend circularly about the waist and support the trousers. One of the objects of this invention is to provide a quickly detachable buckle which will be of thin, flat structure rather than a thick bulky structure which usually accompanies buckles of this character.

Another object oi the invention is to provide a buckle for a belt having a plurality of openings in the belt not utilized for the separable engagement of the belt ends, but any one of which may be selected for retaining the buckle in adjusted position on the belt.

Another object of the invention is to provide a buckle which will not slip along the belt for attachment when once adjusted for size.

A further object of the invention is to provide a buckle which will not slide along the surface of the belt each time that the ends are separably engaged whereby a rubbing or abrading of the surface causes the nish of the leather of the belt to become unsightly.

Another object of the invention is to provide an extremely simple construction which may be made inexpensively and yet the parts are such that a simple action is provided and a secure holding of the parts in adjusted position is accomplished.

With these and other objects in View, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, as will be more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a top plan View of the end portions of the belt secured together by my buckle;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a central sectional shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view looking at the top of the body portion of the buckle;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view looking at the underside of the buckle;

Fig. 6 is a perspective View of the attaching 45 member of the buckle;

Fig, '7 illustrates the manner of removing the belt from a stud for adjustment of the buckle along the belt.

Buckles which are usually on the market are those usually known as the tongue buckle which consists of a U-shaped portion through which one end of the belt extends with holes in the belt to receive a tongue hinged to the U-shaped buckle member, while in other instances there are buckles which are attached to one end of the belt view of the parts with a clamp to jam the other end portion of the belt in position. The buckle which I have designed is intended to obtain the advantages of both of these structures in that by having openings in the belt for a stud on the buckle to extend through, the buckle is positively prevented from sliding and yet the appearance of the gripper buckle is attained by reason of there being a broad plate, yet the disadvantages of rubbing the exposed surface of the belt through a gripper buckle of this character is eliminated in my new construction; and the following is a more detailed description of this improved construction by which these advantageous results are accomplished;

With reference to the drawing, I0 designates one end portion of the belt and II the other end portion. The buckle consists of a body member I2 and an attaching member I3. The body member I2 is secured to the end portion I0 of the belt and the attaching member I3 is secured to the part II of the belt, which parts have detachable engagement to hold them together.

The body part consists of a front plate I4 with rearwardly extending edge flanges I5, I5 and a retaining means I6 comprising two arms II, II bent from the flanges I5, I5 and extending toward each other to an extent to provide a suiicient area for engagement with the attaching member I3.

The front plate I4 of the body member lies across the front surface of the portion I0 with the flanges i5, I5 extending rearwardly across the edges of the portion I0 while the arms I'I, II extend over the rear surface of the portion I0 and in spacedrelation and substantially parallel to the front plate I4. A stud I8 extends through a selected hole I9 of the belt portion I0 and is bent or offset as at 20 in a direction longitudinally of the body toward arms II, I'I' to extend over the rear surface of the belt portion Il] and hold the belt portion in retained position, as illustrated in Fig. 3.

The attaching member I3 consists of a sheet of stock 2| out out as at 22 to receive the end portion II of the belt which is folded therethrough and secured as at 23, see Fig. 3, while this sheet stock is folded as at 24 to extend back upon itself' With-an outwardly aring lip 25 to form a hook which is of such dimensions that it will engage the arms I'I, II' of the retaining means, see also Fig. 3, to hold the attaching member in position.

To attach the end portions I0 and II of the belt in encircling relation it is merely necessary to cause the attaching member to hook into and to embrace the arms I1, I1', or to detach the parts it is merely necessary to slide the members relatively to each other, for example, the body member I2 to the right and the attaching mem!- ber I3 to the left, as shown in Fig. 3, to accomplish this result.

If itis desired that there be a larger or smaller encircling size of the belt When the parts are attached, the attaching member I3 is detached from the body member I2 and the portion I0 is doubled upon itself toward the end portion 26, as illustrated more fully in Fig. '7, which action causes the fold or bight 2'I to occur at substantially the location of the stud I8 and substantially withdraws the bent over portion 20 of the stud from the opening in the belt whereby with a slight pull the stud may be easily withdrawn l from one of the openings and the body adjusted along the belt to another selected opening I 9 whereby upon folding at the location of* this opening and reversing the operation the stud may be easily inserted in the new opening and then the belt may be straightened out again with the stud in position in the other selected openmg.

The foregoing description is directed solely towards the construction illustrated, but I desire it to be understood that I reserve the privilege of resorting to all the mechanical changes to which the device is susceptible, the invention being defined and limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A separable buckle comprising a body member for embracing a portion of a belt and provided with a face plate to cover a portion of the front of the belt with iianges to extend along both edges, arms of the same piece of stock as the flanges and extending laterally of the body from the opposite flanges toward each other, said arms being substantially parallel to the face plate, and an attaching member having means for attachment to a belt end and consisting of sheet stock doubled on itself to provide a flat hook to detachably engage both of' said arms of said retaining means, and a stud extending from the face plate and arranged to extend through a selected opening in the belt and over the rear surface thereof.

2. A separable buckle comprising a body member for embracing a portion of a belt and provided With a face plate to cover a portion of the front of the belt with rearwardly extending edge iianges to extend along both edges of the belt, arms of the same piece of stock as the anges and extending laterally of the body member from the opposite flanges toward each other and over the rear surface of the belt, said arms being substantially parallel to the face plate, an attaching member having means f'or attachment to a belt end and provided with an outwardly iiaring lip to form a hook to detachably engage said arms of the retaining means to hold the attaching member in place, and a stud extending rearwardly from the face plate and provided with a bent portion substantially parallel to the face plate and extending toward said arms to extend through a selected opening in the belt and over iianges to extend along both edges of the belt, l

arms of the same piece of stock as the flanges and extending laterally of the body member from the opposite flanges toward each other and over the rear surface of the belt, said arms being substantially parallel to the face plate, an attaching member having means for attachment to a belt end and provided with a hook portion to detachably engage said arms, and a stud extending rearwardly from. the face plate and provided with a bent portion substantially parallel to the face plate and extending toward said arms to extend through a selected opening in the belt and over the rear surface thereof.

BERNARD R. ZEMAN. 

